Win-Win for Cong, May Get 100+ seats in the Alliance

Congress leaders are giving an indication that Party could get more than a hundred seats in the alliance with Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh. Cong leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was the first leader to confirm about the alliance on Tuesday but Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said the contours of the alliance would be announced in the next two days. Now, both parties have confirmed about the alliance but negotiations are going on with Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

Meanwhile media reports indicate that the Congress could get more than 120 seats- far more than what has been widely reported. That means RLD could be a marginal partner in the alliance.

For the Congress it is a win win situation as their election campaign could not take off even after declaring a Chief Ministerial Candidate. Rahul Gandhi’s Khat-Sabha could not mobilize its cadres. Analysts believe Cong could not have improved its tally. Hence, even 50 seats for Cong would have been sufficient in the alliance. But, SP’s need to consolidate Muslim votes has clinched the deal for the Congress in getting more than ‘reasonable’ number of seat. After all it was Kapil Sibal and other Congress lawyers played a ‘prominent’ role in helping Akhilesh Yadav get the SP party symbol from the Election Commission.

An agreement to forge reached between the two parties earlier and was officially announced by both on Tuesday. Several media reports quoted leaders saying the Congress would get a little lesser than a hundred seats. But, The number being talked now seems to be almost double than what has been reported. Now, it would be interesting to see how Akhilesh is going to manage the discontent in those seats which SP sacrificed for the alliance especially of Shivpal Yadav’s supporters.